Reproducing apparatus and method, information processing apparatus and method, recording medium, and program

ABSTRACT

The present invention is intended to automatically construct a database of contents data which are distributed over plural reproducing apparatuses and search this database on the basis of user&#39;s fragmentary memory. A contents sharing management system practiced as one embodiment of the invention comprises an episode server installed at user&#39;s home and plural reproducing apparatuses including a component stereo set, portable player, portable wireless terminal, and MD player, which are interconnected in a wireless manner based on wireless communication technologies such as Bluetooth. The episode server wirelessly connects to the portable player for example to get the episode information stored therein and organizes the retrieved episode information into a database. The episode server also searches the database upon request from the portable player to identify a source apparatus in which desired contents data are stored and supplies the retrieved contents data to the requesting portable player.

This application is a continuation of, and claims the benefit ofpriority to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/279,430, filed Oct. 24,2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,454,401 B2, which is incorporated in itsentirety herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a reproducing apparatus andmethod, an information processing apparatus and method, a recordingmedium, and a program and, more particularly, to a reproducing apparatusand method, an information processing apparatus and method, a recordingmedium, and a program which, by centrally managing the locations ofcontents data stored in various reproducing apparatuses, allow thesharing of contents data between these reproducing apparatuses.

The number of types of reproducing apparatus for reproducing movingpictures accompanied with voice, music data, text data, and stillpictures (hereafter generically referred to as contents data) is on theincrease and today it is not an infrequent practice for one person toown plural reproducing apparatuses such as above. Besides, because thesereproducing apparatuses have been getting smaller in size and lighter inweight, many users have come to carry these apparatuses with them.

If a single user uses plural reproducing apparatuses, it means that thecontents data to be handled by the user are scattered over differentreproducing apparatuses. Therefore, unless the information about whatcontents data are stored in which reproducing apparatus is organized indatabase by some method, the user must resort to his memory for findingdesired data, music A for example. As the number of reproducingapparatuses used by the user increases and the number of pieces ofcontents data to be handled by the user increases, it becomes moredifficult for the user to quickly and correctly locate the desiredcontents data.

For a method of organizing, into a database, the information about therelationships about contents data and reproducing apparatus in whichthey are stored, the use of a databases creating application programexecutable on personal computers may be proposed for example. However,because this requires the user to enter the information about therelationships between contents data and reproducing apparatus in whichthey are stored, it is difficult for those users who are not wellfamiliar with personal computers to create databases.

Further, if a database exists, searching for desired contents datarequires the setting of search conditions and other operations, which isbothersome for ordinary personal computer users.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a systemcapable of automatically construct a database associated with contentsdata stored in plural reproducing apparatuses in a distributed mannerand searching for desired contents data in accordance with the searchconditions based on user's fragmentary memory.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provideda reproducing apparatus including: reproducing means for reproducingcontents data; gathering means for gathering episode information aboutthe reproduction of the contents data by the reproducing means; andstorage means for storing the episode information in relationship withthe contents data.

Preferably, the reproducing apparatus further includes retrieving meansfor retrieving the contents data which are to be reproduced by thereproducing means from an electronic apparatus; wherein the gatheringmeans gathers the episode information from the electronic apparatuswhich retrieved the contents data.

Preferably, the gathering means gathers the episode information whichincludes information about an owner or user of the electronic apparatus.

Preferably, the information about an owner or user of the electronicapparatus is registered in the electronic apparatus in advance.

Preferably, the information about an owner or user of the electronicapparatus is entered or selected when using the contents data.

Preferably, the gathering means gathers, as the episode information, atleast one of an identifier and a name for identifying the contents data,a date and time, a place, reproducing apparatus identifying information,source apparatus identifying information, and accompanying person's nameat the time of the reproduction of the contents data.

Preferably, the gathering means gathers the episode information bywireless communication.

Preferably, the gathering means gathers episode information gathered byan other electronic apparatus.

Preferably, the reproducing apparatus further includes setting means forsetting a search condition necessary for searching for the contentsdata; and search means for, by referencing the episode informationstored in the storage means, searching for the contents data whichmatches the search condition set by the setting means.

Preferably, the search means causes an other electronic apparatus tosearch for the contents data on the basis of the search condition.

Preferably, the reproducing apparatus further includes retrieving meansfor retrieving the contents data which are to be reproduced by thereproducing means from an electronic apparatus; wherein the retrievingmeans retrieves the contents data searched for by the search means.

Preferably, the reproducing apparatus further includes presenting meansfor presenting, to a user, the episode information about the contentsdata being reproduced.

Preferably, the reproducing apparatus and the electronic apparatus areportable.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provideda reproducing method including the steps of: reproducing contents data;gathering episode information about the reproduction of the contentsdata in the reproducing step; and storing the episode information inrelationship with the contents data.

Preferably, the reproducing method further includes the step of:retrieving the contents data which are to be reproduced in thereproducing step from an electronic apparatus; wherein the episodeinformation is gathered from the electronic apparatus which retrievedthe contents data in the gathering step.

Preferably, the reproducing method further includes the steps of settinga search condition necessary for searching for the contents data; andsearching for the contents data which matches the search condition setin the setting step by referencing the episode information stored in thestorage step.

Preferably, the reproducing method further includes the step ofretrieving the contents data which are to be reproduced in thereproducing step from an electronic apparatus; wherein the contents datasearched for in the search step is retrieved in the retrieving step.

Preferably, the reproducing method further includes the step ofpresenting, to a user, the episode information about the contents databeing reproduced.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provideda first recording medium recording a computer-readable program for areproducing apparatus, the program including the steps of: reproducingcontents data; gathering episode information about the reproduction ofthe contents data in the reproducing step; and storing the episodeinformation in relationship with the contents data.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provideda first program for causing a computer to execute the steps of:reproducing contents data; gathering episode information about thereproduction of the contents data in the reproducing step; and storingthe episode information in relationship with the contents data.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is providedan information processing apparatus for accumulating episode informationreceived from a reproducing apparatus, including: communication meansfor communicating with the reproducing apparatus; accumulating means foraccumulating the episode information received from the reproducingapparatus connected by the communication means; search means forsearching, by referencing the episode information accumulated by theaccumulating means, for the contents data which match a search conditionreceived from the reproducing apparatus connected by the communicationmeans; and supplying means for supplying the contents data searched bythe search means to the reproducing apparatus.

Preferably, the communication means communicates with the reproducingapparatus in a wireless connection manner.

Preferably, the supplying means supplies the contents data to thereproducing apparatus by controlling a source apparatus of the contentsdata.

Preferably, the supplying means retrieves the contents data to supplythe same to the reproducing apparatus via a network.

Preferably, the search means also searches for the episode informationcorresponding to the contents data being reproduced in the reproducingapparatus connected by the communication means and the supplying meansalso supplies the episode information searched by the search means tothe reproducing apparatus.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is providedan information processing method for an information processing apparatusfor accumulating episode information received from a reproducingapparatus, including the steps of: communicating with the reproducingapparatus; accumulating the episode information received from thereproducing apparatus connected in the communication step; searching, byreferencing the episode information accumulated in the accumulatingstep, for the contents data which match a search condition received fromthe reproducing apparatus connected in the communication step; andsupplying the contents data searched in the search step to thereproducing apparatus.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a second recording medium recording a computer-readable programfor accumulating episode information received from a reproducingapparatus, including the steps of: communicating with the reproducingapparatus; accumulating the episode information received from thereproducing apparatus connected in the communication step; searching, byreferencing the episode information accumulated in the accumulatingstep, for the contents data which match a search condition received fromthe reproducing apparatus connected in the communication step; andsupplying the contents data searched in the search step to thereproducing apparatus.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a second program for causing a computer for accumulatingepisode information received from a reproducing apparatus to execute thesteps of: communicating with the reproducing apparatus; accumulating theepisode information received from the reproducing apparatus connected inthe communication step; searching, by referencing the episodeinformation accumulated in the accumulating step, for the contents datawhich match a search condition received from the reproducing apparatusconnected in the communication step; and supplying the contents datasearched in the search step to the reproducing apparatus.

In the reproducing apparatus and method and the first program, whencontents data are reproduced, the episode information about thesecontents data is gathered and stored. In addition, the stored episodeinformation is transmitted to an other apparatus.

In the reproducing apparatus and method and the second program, episodeinformation received from a connected reproducing apparatus is storedand the contents data which match a search condition received from aconnected reproducing apparatus are searched for by referencing thestored episode information. In addition, the retrieved contents data aresupplied to the reproducing apparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other objects of the invention will be seen by reference tothe description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of acontents sharing management system practiced as one embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the schema of the contents sharingmanagement system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of anepisode server shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating functional blocks of an agentprogram installed on the episode server or an MD player shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of aportable player shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart describing a processing procedure for the portableplayer to reproduce music data supplied from an other apparatus;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart describing a processing procedure for the episodeserver to get episode information from an other apparatus;

FIG. 8 is diagram illustrating exemplary episode information organizedinto a database stored in the episode server;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart describing a sequence of processing procedures bythe contents sharing management system for reproducing music data inresponse to the utterance of user or transmitting episode informationabout the music data being reproduced; and

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary operator screen displayedon a display of the episode server for example.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

This invention will be described in further detail by way of examplewith reference to the accompanying drawings. Now referring to FIG. 1,there is shown an exemplary configuration of a contents sharingmanagement system practiced as one embodiment of the invention.

This contents sharing management system is mainly constituted by anepisode server 1 and a plurality of contents reproducing apparatuses.The contents reproducing apparatuses include, for example, a componentstereo set 2 installed at user's home, a portable player 3 such asWalkman (trademark) which uses a semiconductor memory such as MemoryStick (trademark) or a disk medium such as MD (Mini Disc) or CD (CompactDisc), a portable wireless terminal 4 such as a mobile phone or a PHS(Personal Handyphone System), and an MD player 5 which is used by otherregistered users.

It should be noted that, in addition to the above-mentioned apparatuses,the component stereo set 2 through the MD player 5, the contentsreproducing apparatuses include a laptop computer, PDA (Personal DigitalAssistant), notebook computer, desktop computer, Internet terminal,set-top box, railroad station ticket barrier system, railroad stationvendor system, pager, wristwatch, badge, IC card, headset, audioapparatus, video camera, digital still camera, car navigation system,television receiver, radio, printer, and facsimile machine, for example.

The above-mentioned apparatuses, the episode server 1 through the MDplayer 5, may be interconnected by wireless communication technologiessuch as Bluetooth (trademark) for example. Other technologies thanBluetooth, such as the 802.11b (wireless LAN) may also be used. Thisinterconnection may also be realized by wired communication technologiessuch as the IEEE 1394 standard.

The episode server 1 wirelessly connects to any one of the reproducingapparatuses, the component stereo set 2 through MD player 5, that existswithin the episode server's wireless communication area, and retrievesthe episode information stored in the connected apparatus to store theretrieved information in a database. In addition, the episode server 1searches the database upon request from any one of the apparatuses,component stereo set 2 through MD player 5, to identify a sourceapparatus in which the contents data as a result the search are stored,providing the contents data to the search requesting apparatus.

The episode server 1 is connectable, via a router 6, to any site, acontents provider site 8 for example, existing on the Internet. Theepisode server 1 can supply the contents data retrieved from thecontents provider site 8 to the wirelessly connected apparatus, thecomponent stereo set 2 through the MD player 5.

The component stereo set 2 has capabilities of general audio/visualrecording/reproducing apparatus for reproducing contents data recordedin recording media such as Memory Stick, CD, MD, and DVD (DigitalVersatile Disc) and receiving television and radio programs andcapabilities which are realized by an agent program to be describedlater to wirelessly connect to the episode server 1 to reproduce thecontents data supplied from the episode server 1 for example.

It should be noted that, in what follows, the contents data which can behandled by the contents sharing management system associated with theinvention are limited to music data for the convenience of description.The music data referred to herein include PCM data, MP3 data, WAVE data,MIDI data and so on from which the audio signals of music can bereproduced by predetermined signal processing, their data formats beingnot especially limited to any particular ones.

The portable player 3 has capabilities of a general portable playerwhich reproduces the music data recorded on recording media such asMemory Stick, CD, MD, and DVD to output corresponding voice as well ascapabilities to be realized by an agent program to be described later ofwirelessly connecting to the MD player 5 for example, reproducing musicdata supplied from the MD player 5, storing the episode information atreproducing the music data, and then, upon connecting to the episodeserver 1, supplying the stored episode information to the episode server1.

The portable wireless terminal 4 has capabilities of reproducing musicdata and acquiring own positional information in addition to generaltalk capabilities of mobile phones or PHS phones. The portable wirelessterminal 4 also has capabilities which are realized by an agent programto be described later; for example, capabilities of wirelesslyconnecting to the portable player 3 to supply own positional informationto the portable player 3.

The MD player 5 has capabilities of which are realized by an agentprogram to be described later of wirelessly connecting to the portableplayer 3 to supply music data reproduced by MD player 5 to the portableplayer 3 and storing episode information at reproducing music to supplythe stored episode information to the episode server 1 upon connectionthereto, in addition to general MD reproducing capabilities ofreproducing music data recorded on an MD to output corresponding voice.

It should be noted that the apparatuses, the episode server 1 throughthe MD player 5, constituting the contents sharing management system areadapted to prevent them from wirelessly connecting to the apparatuses,the episode server 1 through the MD player 5, of a contents sharingmanagement system which is used third parties outdoors for example bysetting user name and group name for example to the device name area ofBluetooth of each of the apparatuses, the episode server 1 through theMD player 5, thereby allowing wireless connection only to thoseapparatuses with registered user name or group name set.

The following describes one example of the capabilities to be realizedby the contents sharing management system associated with invention byexplaining the activities of one day of John who is a user of thiscontents sharing management system.

Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown one example of activities of John onOct. 14, 2001 (scenes 1 through 4). In scene 1, John is in Kaihin Parkwith his friend Mary at about 12:00. John has a portable player 3 and aportable wireless terminal 4 and Mary has an MD player 5. John islistening to music of which source apparatus is the MD player 5 by useof the portable player 3. Mary is listening to music reproduced by herMD player 5.

To be more specific, the portable player 3 of John is wirelesslyconnected to the MD player 5 of Mary, receives music data reproduced bythe MD player 5 and wirelessly transmitted therefrom, and outputscorresponding voice from headphones. In correspondence with theoutputting of music, the portable player 3 stores episode informationsuch as date and time, and place, title of outputted music, music ID,source apparatus, name of accompanying person (owner of the MD player5).

The portable player 3 may get the current date and time and placeinformation by identifying the place name (Kaihin Park or Station StreetShopping Center for example) of the current place by matching thecurrent date and time and the coordinate information of the currentplace computed by a GPS (Global Positioning System) signal receivingcircuit 61 (FIG. 5) incorporated in the portable player 3 against themap data recorded in advance (or by inquiring a predetermined server viathe Internet 7) or by wirelessly communicating with the portablewireless terminal 4 to use the positional information obtained by theportable wireless terminal 4.

The portable player 3 may get episode information such as music title,music ID, source apparatus, and name of accompanying person from the MDplayer 5 as with music data or by entering episode information by userJohn himself by following a predetermined operational procedure.

Scene 2: about 15:30; in Station Street shopping center, John islistening to the music recorded in his portable player 3. To be morespecific, the portable player 3 reproduces music data from a recordingmedium loaded therein and sounds the music data from the headphones. Inresponse to the music reproduction, the portable player 3 stores episodeinformation such as date and time and place, title of reproduced music,music ID, source apparatus.

Scene 3: about 18:00; John returns home in which the episode server 1 isinstalled. When John gets home, the portable player 3 and the portablewireless terminal 4 gets in the communication area of the episode server1, upon which the episode server 1 wirelessly connects to the portableplayer 3 and portable wireless terminal 4 to get the episodeinformation.

Scene 4: about 22:00; John is in his living room with Jane. In thisliving room, the component stereo set 2 is installed which is wirelesslyconnected to the episode server 1. If John utters toward the componentstereo set 2 “I want to listen to the music which I listened to withMary this noon” for example, the component stereo set 2 recognizes thisvoice and requests the episode server 1 for searching the music with therecognized words used as a search condition.

As a result of the search, the episode server 1 identifies the MD player5 which is the source apparatus of the corresponding music data;however, episode server 1 cannot wirelessly connect to the Mary's MDplayer 5 because it is outside the communication area. Hence, theepisode server 1 gets the music data from the contents provider site 8via the Internet 7 and wirelessly transmits the music data to thecomponent stereo set 2. The component stereo set 2 reproduces the musicdata received from the episode server 1, outputting voice. In responseto the reproduction of the music, the component stereo set 2 storesepisode information such as date and time and place, title of reproducedmusic, music ID, source apparatus, and name of accompanying person.

It should be noted that other items of episode information than date andtime and place, title of reproduced music, music ID, source apparatus,and name of accompanying person stored in each of the apparatuses, thecomponent stereo set 2 through MD player 5, may be used in accordancewith the sensors of these apparatuses. For example, episode informationmay include weather parameters such as temperature, humidity, andatmospheric pressure and such user's physical condition parameters asbody temperature, heart rate, perspiration level, blood pressure, andblood sugar level.

The following describes exemplary configurations of apparatusesconstituting the contents sharing management system associated with theinvention with reference to FIGS. 3 through 5. Referring to FIG. 3,there is shown an exemplary configuration of the episode server 1.

The episode server 1 contains a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 21. TheCPU 21 is connected to an input/output interface 25 via a bus 24. Thebus 24 is connected to a ROM (Read Only Memory) 22 and a RAM (RandomAccess Memory) 23.

The input/output interface 25 is connected to a wireless communicationcircuit 26 for communicating data with the portable player 3 and so onin a wireless manner in accordance with the Bluetooth standard forexample, a network communication circuit 27 for communicating music dataand so on with the contents provider site 8 via the router 6 and theInternet 7 in accordance with TCP/IP (Transmission ControlProtocol/Internet Protocol), operator buttons 28 arranged on a remotecontroller for entering operator commands by the user and the main bodyof the episode server 1, a display 29 for displaying an operator screenwhich provides user interface along with the operator buttons 28, a harddisk drive (HDD) 30 for storing the episode information retrieved fromthe portable player 3 and so on, a voice input circuit 31 into whichuser's voice is entered through its incorporated microphone for example,and a drive 32 for reading and writing data with recording media such asa magnetic disc 33, an optical disc 34, a magneto-optical disc 35, and asemiconductor memory 36.

An agent program to be executed by the CPU 21 is supplied to the episodeserver 1 as stored in the magnetic disc 33 (including a floppy disc),the optical disc 34 (including a CD-ROM and a DVD), the magneto-opticaldisc 35 (including an MD), or the semiconductor memory 36. The agentprogram is then read by the drive 32 to be installed in the hard diskdrive 30, the installed agent program being loaded from the hard diskdrive 30 to the RAM 23 for execution.

Referring to FIG. 4, there is shown a functional block diagram of theagent program. A control section 41 controls the functional blocks ofthe agent program, namely a user interface (UI) section 42, a voicerecognizing section 43, an episode information retrieving section 44, anepisode information storage section 45, a search section 46, a contentsretrieving/providing section 47, and a voice synthesizing section 48.The user interface section 42 controls the operator buttons 28 and thedisplay 29 to determine an operation performed by the user on anoperator screen and outputs the decision to the control section 41.

The voice recognizing section 43 recognizes user's voice entered fromthe voice input circuit 31 and accordingly outputs words obtained bydividing the voice into morphemes to the control section 41. The episodeinformation retrieving section 44 stores own episode information inresponse to an event such as the reproduction of music data. Also, theepisode information retrieving section 44 gets episode information froman other wirelessly connected apparatus. Further, the episodeinformation retrieving section 44 identifies the name of location bymatching the coordinate information of the obtained current locationagain the map data. The episode information storage section 45 generatesa database of episode information by rearranging, in time series, theepisode information obtained from the portable player 3 for example bythe episode information retrieving section 44, storing the generateddatabase into the hard disk drive 30.

The search section 46 searches the database stored on the hard diskdrive 30 to identify the source apparatus of music data by use of theuser operation determined by the user interface section 42 or the user'sword obtained by the voice recognizing section 43 as a music data searchcondition. In addition, the search section 46 searches the databasestored in the hard disk drive 30 to extract episode information by useof the word obtained from the voice recognizing section 43 as acondition for searching for the episode associated with the music databeing reproduced.

The contents retrieving/providing section 47 makes the source apparatus(for example, the portable player 3) identified as a result of thesearch by the search section 46 supply the retrieved music data to thesearch requesting apparatus (for example, the component stereo set 2) inwireless communication. However, if the source apparatus (for example,the portable player 3) identified by the search section 46 cannot bewirelessly connected, the contents retrieving/providing section 47 getsthe retrieved music data from the contents provider site 8 and suppliesthem to the search requesting apparatus (for example, component stereoset 2) in wireless communication.

On the basis of the episode information extracted by the search section46 as a search result, the voice synthesizing section 48 synthesizesaudio signals (for example, “I listened to this music with Mary in thepark at noon today”) representative of the episode associated with themusic data being reproduced.

It should be noted that the agent program is installed on not only theepisode server 1 but also the apparatuses, the component stereo set 2through the MD player 5. However, not all the functional blocks, theuser interface section 42 through the voice synthesizing section 48, ofthe agent program do not operate on the apparatuses, the episode server1 through the MD player 5; the functional blocks operate in an adaptivemanner in accordance with the hardware configuration of each of theseapparatuses, the episode server 1 through the MD player 5.

Referring to FIG. 5, there is shown an exemplary configuration of theportable player 3. A control circuit 51 controls operator buttons 54, adisplay 55, a memory 56, an audio signal input circuit 57, anencoder/decoder 58, an audio signal output circuit 59, a wirelesscommunication circuit 60, and a GPS signal receiving circuit 61 byexecuting a control program recorded to a recording medium 52. At thesame time, the control circuit 51 realizes, on the portable player 3,the above-mentioned functions of the user interface section 42 throughthe voice synthesizing section 48 by reading the agent program from therecording medium 52 and executing it.

The operator buttons 54 are arranged on the main body of the portableplayer 3 and send the information about user's operation done to thecontrol circuit 51 via a bus 53. The display 55 displays informationsuch as track numbers of music to be reproduced, music titles, and soon, and an operator screen as user interface. The memory 56 constitutedby a detachable recording medium stores music data, episode information,and map data for example.

The audio signal input circuit 57 digitizes an audio signal entered viaa predetermined cable and supplies the digitized audio signal to theencoder/decoder 58 via the bus 53. The encoder/decoder 58 encodes theaudio signal supplied from the audio signal input circuit 57 via the bus53 in accordance with a predetermined encoding scheme (for example,ATRAC3). The resultant music data are stored in the memory 56. Inaddition, the encoder/decoder 58 decodes the music data read from thememory 56 and output the decoded music data to the audio signal outputcircuit 59 via the bus 53. The audio signal output circuit 59 convertsthe audio data entered from the encoder/decoder 58 via the bus 53 intoan analog signal and output it to headphones for example.

The wireless communication circuit 60 communicates music data andepisode information for example with the episode server 1, the componentstereo set 2, and the MD player 5 for example located within thecommunication area in accordance with the Bluetooth standard forexample. The GPS signal receiving circuit 61 computes the coordinateinformation (longitude, latitude, and altitude) of the location on thebasis of the GPS signal transmitted from a GPS satellite.

It should be noted that, like the exemplary configuration of theportable player 3, the exemplary configurations of the component stereoset 2, the portable wireless terminal 4, and the MD player 5 eachinclude a mutual wireless communication means like the wirelesscommunication circuit 60 of the portable player 3 and executes the agentprogram by the control means such as the control circuit 51 of theportable player 3, as well as hardware provided in a commonly usedcomponent stereo set, of which detail descriptions will be skipped.

The following describes the operation of the contents sharing managementsystem. The description will be made, with reference to the flowchartshown in FIG. 6, on the processing by the portable player 3 ofreproducing music data supplied from an other apparatus as with thereproduction of music data by the portable player 3 of the music datasupplied from the MD player 5 in scene 1 shown in FIG. 2 for example.

In step S1, the wireless communication circuit 60 of the portable player3 determines whether there is any wirelessly communicable apparatuswithin its communication area and waits until such apparatus is found.When any wirelessly communicable apparatus is found, the procedure goesto step S2. Subsequently, the description will be made by use of a casefor example in which the MD player 5 exists in the communication area ofthe portable player 3 as shown in scene 2 of FIG. 2.

In step S2, the user interface section 42 of the agent program to beexecuted by the control circuit 51 of the portable player 3 (hereafterreferred to as a user interface section 42-3) determines whether theuser has performed an operation for specifying the reproduction of themusic data supplied from the wirelessly communicable MD player 5. If thedecision is Yes, the procedure goes to step S3.

In step S3, the contents retrieving/providing section 47 of the agentprogram to be executed by the control circuit 51 of the portable player3 (hereafter referred to as a contents retrieving/providing section47-3) gets music data from the MD player 5 via the wirelesscommunication circuit 60 and outputs the music data to theencoder/decoder 58 via the bus 53. The encoder/decoder 58 decodes theentered music data. The resultant audio signal is outputted from theaudio signal output circuit 59 to the headphones for example.

Upon the end of music reproduction, the episode information retrievingsection 44 of the agent program to be executed by the control circuit 51of the portable player 3 (hereafter referred to as an episodeinformation retrieving section 44-3) gets the attribute information ofthe reproduced music data (music title, music ID, source apparatus (inthis case, the MD player), and source apparatus user name) from the MDplayer 5 via the wireless communication circuit 60 in step S4. It shouldbe noted that the attribute information of music data is set to musicbeforehand, obtained from a predetermined server via the Internetbeforehand, or entered by user into the MD player 5 beforehand (providedthat there may be items not yet set).

In step S5, the episode information retrieving section 44-3 puts thecurrent date and time and location and the attribute information of themusic data obtained in step S4 together to generate the episodeinformation corresponding to the reproduction of the music data andstores the generated episode information into the memory 56.

It should be noted that the processes of steps S4 and S5 may be executedafter starting the process of step S3 and before ending the reproductionof the music data; however, as described above, executing the processesof steps S4 and S5 after ending the reproduction of the music data canprevent the amount of the episode information to be stored in the memory56 from increasing too much.

In step S2, if no operation by the user for specifying the reproductionof the music data supplied from the wirelessly communicable MD player 5upon instruction of the reproduction of the music data stored in theportable player 3 for example is found, this processing comes to an end.

The following describes, with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.7, a processing procedure in which, as shown in scene 3 of FIG. 2 forexample, the episode server 1 gets episode information from an otherapparatus when John gets home and the portable player 3 gets in thecommunication area of the episode server 1.

In step S11, the wireless communication circuit 26 of the episode server1 determines whether there is any wirelessly communicable apparatuswithin its communication area and waits until such apparatus is found.When such apparatus is found within its communication area, theprocedure goes to step S12. The description will be made by use of anexample in which the portable player 3 exists in the communication areaof the episode server 1.

In step S12, the episode information retrieving section 44 of the agentprogram to be executed by the CPU 21 of the episode server 1 (hereafterreferred to as an episode information retrieving section 44-1) getsepisode information from the portable player 3 via the wirelesscommunication circuit 26 and outputs the retrieved episode informationto the episode information storage section 45 of the agent program to beexecuted in the episode server 1 (hereafter referred to as an episodeinformation storage section 45-1).

It should be noted that the episode information to be generated in thecomponent stereo set 2 for example existing within the communicationarea of the episode server 1 may be obtained by the episode server 1every time it is generated or at every predetermined interval (forexample, every 24 hours). The positional information of the episodeinformation of stationary apparatus such as the component stereo set 2may be set by the user as “living room of my home” for example.

The episode information of the portable player 3 entered in the episodeinformation storage section 45-1 is arranged, in time series, along withthe episode information, of an other apparatus (for example, theportable wireless terminal 4) than the portable player 3, stored in theepisode information storage section 45-1 and these pieces of episodeinformation are organized into a database, which is stored in the harddisk drive 30.

Referring to FIG. 8, there is shown one example of the episodeinformation organized into a database which is stored in the hard diskdrive 30 of the episode server 1.

For example, the episode information of the portable player 3 in scene 1shown in FIG. 2 includes “12:00, Oct. 14, 2001” as event occurring dateand time, “Kaihin Park” as the location, “EVERYDAY” as the title of thereproduced music, “MD Player” as the source apparatus of the reproducedmusic, “Portable Player” as the reproducing apparatus, and “Mary” as theaccompanying person.

Further, for example, the episode information of the portable player 3in scene 2 shown in FIG. 2 includes “15:30, Oct. 14, 2001” as the eventoccurring date and time, “Station Street Shopping Center” as thelocation, “ME12345D” as the ID of the reproduced music, “PortablePlayer” as the source apparatus of the reproduced music, and “PortablePlayer” as the reproducing apparatus.

The following describes, with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.9, a processing procedure by the contents sharing management system forreproducing music in response to user's utterance or transmittingepisode information about the music being reproduced in response touser's utterance.

In step S21, the voice recognizing section 43 of the agent program to beexecuted in the component stereo set 2 (hereafter referred to as a voicerecognizing section 43-2) determines whether voice input has been madefrom the user and waits until voice input is made. When the voice inputis found, the procedure goes to step S22.

In step S22, the voice recognizing section 43-2 divides the voice inputfrom the user into morphemes and outputs the resultant words to thecontrol section 41 of the agent program to be executed in the componentstereo set 2 (hereafter referred to as a control section 41-2).

For example, from user voice input “I want to listen to the music whichI listened to with Mary in Kaihin Part around 12:00 noon today,” words“Noon,” “Around,” “12:00,” “Kaihin Park,” “Mary,” “Music,” and “I wantlisten to” and so on are extracted.

In step S23, on the basis of the words entered from the voicerecognizing section 43-2, the control section 41-2 determines whetherthe user is requesting the reproduction of music or the notification ofepisode information. If the user is requesting the reproduction ofmusic, then the procedure goes to step S24.

In step S24, the control section 41-2 wirelessly communicates the wordsextracted in step S22 to the search section 46 of the agent program tobe executed in the episode server 1 (hereafter referred to as a searchsection 46-1) as a search condition.

The search section 46-1 appropriately makes up for the supplied searchcondition. For example, if words “Noon, 12:00, Around, Kaihin Park,Mary, Music, I want to listen to” are supplied as search conditions, thesearch section 46-1 adds the date of today to these search conditions.Because “Around” is included in these search conditions, a time marginis given to “12:00” as a search condition. Further, the search section46-1 searches the episode information database stored in the hard diskdrive 30 by the complemented search conditions to identify the matchingmusic and source apparatus.

In step S25, the contents retrieving/providing section 47 of the agentprogram to be executed in the episode server 1 (hereafter referred to asa contents retrieving/providing section 47-1) determines whether it cancurrently wirelessly connect to the music source apparatus identified instep S24. For example, if the music source apparatus is the portableplayer 3, the decision is Yes, so that the procedure goes to step S26.

In step S26, the contents retrieving/providing section 47-1 supplies thecorresponding music data from the portable player 3, which is the sourceapparatus, to the component stereo set 2 by wireless communication. Itshould be noted that the music data from the portable player 3, which isthe source apparatus, may be received by the episode server 1, whichsends the received music data to the component stereo set 2.

In step S27, the component stereo set 2 reproduces the supplied musicdata to output the corresponding voice.

It should be noted that, if the music source apparatus identified instep S24 is found the MD player 5 for example in step S25, it indicatesthat the wireless connection thereto is disabled, so that the proceduregoes to step S28.

In step S28, the contents retrieving/providing section 47-1 gets thecorresponding music data from the contents provider site 8 on theInternet 7 and supplies the music data to the component stereo set 2 bywireless communication.

If plural pieces (for example, 2) of music data are identified as asearch result in step S24, the first piece of music is reproduced by theprocesses of steps S25 through S27. If, listening to the reproducedfirst music, the user utters “No,” this voice is recognized and thereproduction is switched from the first music to the second music.

If the user utters “No” to the second music, it is recognized that thesecond music is desired by the user to continue its reproduction, theepisode information about the reproduction of the second music beingstored in the component stereo set 2.

If music (for example, “EVERYDAY”) is being reproduced and the entereduser's utterance is “What is the episode of this music?” for example instep S21, then word “episode” is extracted as a search condition in stepS22. In this case, the request for transmitting episode information isdetermined in step S23, upon which the procedure goes to step S29.

In steps S29, the episode information retrieving section 44 of the agentprogram to be executed in the component stereo set 2 (hereafter referredto as an episode information retrieving section 44-2) gets the title andID (or one of them) of the music being reproduced. By use of theretrieved music title or ID as a search condition, the control section41-2 sends the search condition to the search section 46-1 of theepisode server 1 by wireless communication.

The search section 46-1 searches for the episode information whichmatches the received search condition. The retrieved episode informationis supplied to the voice synthesizing section 48 of the agent program tobe executed in the component stereo set 2 (hereafter referred to as avoice synthesizing section 48-2) by wireless communication.

For example, if the search condition is music title “EVERYDAY,” thesearch section 46-1 searches the database shown in FIG. 8 for the eventinformation with event date and time “12:00, Oct. 14, 2001,” location“Kaihin Park,” source apparatus of reproduced music “MD player,”reproducing apparatus “Portable player,” and accompanying person “Mary”and supplies the retrieved event information to the voice synthesizingsection 48-2.

In step S30, on the basis of the episode information supplied from theepisode server 1, the voice synthesizing section 48-2 of the componentstereo set 2 synthesizes audio signal “The music being reproduced iswhat I listened to with Mary in Kaihin Park at noon, Oct. 14, 2001” forexample and sounds the voice from the speaker. It should be noted thatcharacter string “The music being reproduced is what I listened to withMary in Kaihin Park at noon, Oct. 14, 2001” may also be displayed forvisual presentation to the user.

As described and according to the contents sharing management systemassociated with the invention, even if the user cannot correctlyremember the title or source apparatus of desired music, the user canreproduce it only by uttering fragmentary information thereabout. Inaddition, because the episode information about music which has beenlistened to can be transmitted to the user, it may give the user achance of widening his interest by remembering the past or triggeringmusic search.

As described, the contents sharing management system not only operatesby recognizing user's utterance, but also causes the user to search formusic for reproduction through the operator screen displayed on thedisplay 29 of the episode server 1 or the display 55 of the portableplayer 3.

Referring to FIG. 10, there is shown an exemplary display on theoperator screen on the display 29 of the episode server 1 or the display55 of the portable player 3 for example. The operator screen shows alist of stored episode information. To specify a particular piece ofmusic to be reproduced, the user vertically moves a slider 72 shown atthe left end of the screen to the desired piece of music for selection,for example.

Also, the episode information may be narrowed down by making the userselect the displayed information (for example, Kaihin Park and Mary) byoperating a cursor 71 to extract only the event information whichincludes the selected information. In this case, plural pieces ofinformation may also be selected at the same time.

Further, a box in which the user can enter character strings may bearranged on the operator screen. The entered character strings may bevoice-recognized and words may be extracted from the entered characterstrings for use as a search condition.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the portable player 3 is directlyconnected to the episode server 1 in a wireless manner. It is alsopracticable to connect the portable player 3 to the episode server 1 viaa network represented by the Internet 7.

As described, the apparatuses, the component stereo set 2 through the MDplayer 5, have each the agent program installed as with the episodeserver 1, so that the above-described processing by the episode server 1may be executed by the component stereo set 2 to omit the episode server1 from the configuration of the contents sharing management system.

Further, because the agent program is installed on each of theapparatuses, the component stereo set 2 through the MD player 5, thefollowing operations may be realized.

For example, the apparatuses, the component stereo set 2 through the MDplayer 5, may accept the search conditions entered by the user to searchfor specified music data by referencing the episode information storedin these apparatuses.

Still further, the apparatuses, the component stereo set 2 through theMD player 5, may get the episode information from each other and storedthe obtained episode information with the own episode information tosearch for the specified music data by referencing these pieces ofepisode information.

Moreover, the apparatuses, the component stereo set 2 through the MDplayer 5, may accept the search conditions entered by the user andtransmit the accepted search conditions to each other to request forsearch. When the specified music data are identified as a result of thesearch, the apparatuses, the component stereo set 2 through the MDplayer 5 may get the music data from the recording media loaded onthemselves, from each other which is wirelessly connectable, or from thecontents provider site 8 on the Internet 7 and reproduce the obtainedmusic data.

In the contents sharing management system associated with the invention,all the component apparatuses are interconnected by wirelesscommunication technologies such as Bluetooth. It will be apparent thatthese apparatuses may also be interconnected by use of predeterminedcables to transfer contents data and episode information.

It should be noted that the steps describing the programs recorded on arecording medium include herein not only the processes which areexecuted according to the described sequence in a time series manner,but also the processes which are concurrently or discretely executed.

The embodiment of the invention has been described by use of music ascontents data. It will be apparent that the contents data may alsoinclude still pictures, moving pictures, and character information. Thecontents data may be provided in storage media or the internal memoriesof apparatuses or as streaming contents data supplied via acommunication network such as the Internet.

The episode information about contents data stored in each reproducingapparatus may also be registered for searching in the episode server athome via a communication network such as the Internet.

The term “system” herein used denotes the entire equipment composed ofplural apparatuses.

As described and according to the invention, the reproducing apparatusand method and the first program gather and store the episodeinformation about contents data when they are reproduced and transmitthe stored episode information to other electronic apparatuses.Consequently, the novel constitution allows to automatically construct adatabase of contents data which are distributed over plural reproducingapparatuses.

As described and according to the invention, the reproducing apparatusand method and the second program store the episode informationtransmitted from connected reproducing apparatuses, search for thecontents data matching the search condition transmitted from connectedreproducing apparatuses by referencing the stored episode information,and supply the retrieved contents data to reproducing apparatuses.Consequently, the novel constitution allows to automatically construct adatabase of the contents data distributed over plural reproducingapparatuses and search for contents data on the basis of the fragmentarymemory of users.

While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed using specific terms, such description is for illustrativepurposes only, and it is to be understood that changes and variationsmay be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the appendedclaims.

1. A system comprising: a portable apparatus configured to store episodeinformation associated with a particular episode of playing content datastored at a first source apparatus, the episode information includingcontent data information about the content data itself and event datadescribing the circumstances associated with the particular episode; aserver configured to: automatically receive the episode information fromthe portable apparatus subsequent to the particular episode of playingthe content data, receive a request for content data from a user, andretrieve the content data from a second source apparatus, based on therequest and at least part of the received episode information; and anoutput circuit for outputting the retrieved content data, wherein: thecontent data information includes at least a title or ID of the contentdata; and the event data includes one or more of: a date and time of theparticular episode, a location of the portable apparatus when theparticular episode occurred, a person near the portable apparatus whenthe particular episode occurred, and information about the sourceapparatus.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein: the request includes atleast part of the event data.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein theserver is further configured to: automatically and wirelessly receivethe episode information from the portable apparatus, and retrieve thecontent data from the second source apparatus in response to a voicerequest from a user, thereby retrieving the content data in a hands-freemanner.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein: the portable apparatus is oneof a phone, a personal digital assistant, a portable media player, and aradio.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the output circuit furthercomprises: a component stereo set coupled to the server, wherein thecomponent stereo set is configured to communicate with the server sothat content data retrieved by the server is outputted from speakers atthe component stereo set.
 6. The system of claim 5, wherein: theportable apparatus, the component stereo set, and the server are allconfigured to communicate with each other wirelessly.
 7. The system ofclaim 6, wherein: the portable apparatus, the component stereo set, andthe server are all associated with common registered user or group name.8. The system of claim 7, further including: an agent program thatincludes voice recognition so that the system is configured to store theepisode information in the portable apparatus, transfer the episodeinformation to the server, receive the request for content data from theuser, and output the content data from the component stereo set withoutphysical manipulation of any component of the portable apparatus,server, or component stereo set by a user.
 9. A recording medium havingstored thereon a computer-readable program having instructions thatinstruct an apparatus to perform certain steps, the instructionsincluding: voice recognizing instructions for recognizing voice input;episode information receiving instructions for receiving episodeinformation associated with a particular episode of outputting contentdata, the episode information including content data information aboutthe content data itself and event data describing the circumstancesassociated with the particular episode; search instructions for usingthe voice input recognized by the voice recognizing instructions as asearch condition for searching the episode information received by theepisode information receiving instructions, thereby resulting in anepisode information search result; and content providing instructionsfor retrieving the content data based on the episode information searchresult, wherein: the content data information includes at least a titleor ID of the content data; and the event data includes one or more of: adate and time of the particular episode, a location of the apparatuswhen the particular episode occurred, a person near the apparatus whenthe particular episode occurred, and information about a source of thecontent data.
 10. The recording medium of claim 9, wherein: the voiceinput includes one or more of a date and time, a location, or a person'sname, but does not include a title or ID of the content data.
 11. Therecording medium of claim 9, wherein: the episode information receivinginstructions are configured to cause the apparatus to automaticallyreceive the episode information from a source external to the apparatus,without user interaction.
 12. The recording medium of claim 9, wherein:the content providing instructions are configured to cause the apparatusto retrieve the content data and to automatically provide the contentdata to an output circuit to be output.
 13. The recording medium ofclaim 9, wherein the content providing instructions are configured to:cause the apparatus to retrieve the content data and additional contentdata, based on the episode information search result; and provide thecontent data and the additional content data to an output circuit to beoutput.
 14. The recording medium of claim 13, wherein: the content datais a first audio content data; and the additional content data is asecond audio content data, wherein providing the content data and theadditional content data to an output circuit includes providing thefirst audio content data and the second audio content data to the outputcircuit to be played to a user.
 15. A method of playing content data,comprising: storing in a portable apparatus episode informationassociated with a particular episode of playing the content data, theepisode information including content data information about the contentdata itself and event data describing the circumstances associated withthe particular episode of playing the content data; subsequentlyreceiving, via a user input device of the portable apparatus, a searchrequest that includes at least part of the event data and does notinclude the content data information; based on the search request, usingthe episode information to search for the content data; automaticallyretrieving the content data as a result of the search; and playing theretrieved content data, wherein: the content data information includesat least a title or ID of the content data; and the event data includesone or more of: a date and time of the particular episode, a location ofthe portable apparatus when the particular episode occurred, a personnear the portable apparatus when the particular episode occurred, andinformation about a source of the content data.
 16. The method of claim15, wherein storing in a portable apparatus the episode informationincludes automatically storing the episode information in the portableapparatus, and further comprising: automatically transmitting the storedepisode information to another apparatus, prior to receiving the searchrequest; receiving the search request by receiving a voice request thatincludes at least part of the event data and does not include thecontent data information; based on the search request, using the episodeinformation to automatically search for the content data; andautomatically playing the retrieved data, thereby permitting the contentdata to be played after the particular episode of playing withoutphysical manipulation of any component of the portable apparatus or theother apparatus.
 17. The method of claim 15, wherein the content data ismusic data.
 18. The method of claim 15, wherein: storing in a portableapparatus the episode information includes automatically storing theepisode information in the portable apparatus; and automaticallyretrieving the content data includes automatically retrieving thecontent data from an apparatus other than the portable apparatus. 19.The method of claim 18, wherein: automatically retrieving the contentdata includes automatically retrieving the content data at a server;playing the retrieved content data comprises playing the retrievedcontent data using one or more speakers.